Ben Foster fears for England World Cup place

BEN FOSTER admits he is “very disheartened” after losing his Manchester United place - and that could wreck his World Cup chances.

Foster has been relegated to being United’s third choice behind Edwin van der Sar and Thomas Kuszczak after his poor start to the season at Old Trafford.

England keeper Foster admits he was as shocked that Fabio Capello started with him in goal in Doha as he was at not being sent off after conceding a second half penalty.

But Foster is the first to admit that his current predicament at United is a major obstacle in his battle to be England’s No.1 for next summer’s World Cup.

England boss Capello is clearly worried about David James’ fitness, is not convinced by Rob Green who did not even make the bench and yet Foster did not get much of an opportunity to strengthen his claim.

It is a real worry for Foster as the United keeper can see that a World Cup place is definitely up for grabs - but it will be hard to win it if he is not getting regular games at Old Trafford.

Foster said: “I’m third choice for Manchester United at the moment and yet I’m playing for my country. It’s a weird one. I’ll see what happens.

“I can’t go saying that I want to leave or anything like that, I’ll see what happens. You never know in football, do you?

“The World Cup is a big thing, it’s everything. A footballer wants to go to the World Cup, it’s as simple as that. It’s very disheartening not being on the bench at United.

“It’s very, very disheartening. I’ve not been on the bench lately and you have to keep your head up, keep working hard in training and I’m really thankful for the boss (Capello) giving me a chance really.

“It was a bit out of the blue to be picked, to be honest. I know that I played the last qualifier, but I wasn’t expecting it. But I think I did well in training and thankfully the boss stuck with me as well.

“I’m not playing at United which makes it a lot more difficult for myself. Ideally, I’d like to be playing. That’s not happening but the England boss is giving me a few chances.

“I’m really grateful for the chances and when I get the chance I’ve just got to show what I can do and hopefully that will keep me in the squad.

“It’s difficult at United with Edwin. He’s one of the best keepers in the world. It’s as simple as that. You can’t go knocking on the manager’s door and say he’s not doing his job, because he’s doing his job.”

Foster was honest enough to admit that he has made mistakes for United this season and that is the reason why he lost his place as soon as van der Sar returned to full fitness.

The Manchester derby and home game with Sunderland were both low points for Foster who was not even on the bench for United at Chelsea eight days ago with Capello watching from the stands.

“I thought I started the season off well,” said Foster. “There was a period of about two or three games where I made a few mistakes.

“There was the Man City game, a few days later we played against Sunderland and people blamed me for the second goal against Sunderland.

“They were the only mistakes I made though, in my opinion. It was disappointing to lose my place in the team. But before that, I thought I was doing fairly well.

“You can’t let it get you too down, especially not with so many games coming up. You’ve got them coming up every other day, almost, playing two or three times a week.

“You have to just move on and that’s the best way to deal with it. If you let it get on your mind then it will affect you.”

Foster admitted he was worried that he would see red just like Rob Green did in Ukraine when he brought down Brazilian Nilmar after some sloppy defending by Matt Upson and Wes Brown.

But the real salvation was that Brazil striker Luis Fabiano blazed over and did not add to Nilmar’s second half opener which sailed over Foster’s head.

Foster admitted he fully expected to be sent off as he was last man and yet referee Abdulrahman Abdou gave him a reprieve.

Foster said: “It was a bit lucky, I thought I was a definite goner. There were a few decisions which I thought were a bit strange, but I was quite happy to stay on the pitch.

“As soon as it happened, I thought: ’that’s what happened to Greeny and he was a goner.’ But the ref saw it as a friendly, he gave the decision and I was happy to stay on the pitch.

“I thought the goal was a good finish. He (Elano) just chucked it in between Upson and Wes Brown and I think the guy took it early, it was a good header and it beat me.

“We knew it was going to be a difficult match and it’s so hot and humid, it’s hard to get your breath really.

“South American teams will be a lot more used to it than us but we gave a good account of ourselves, we’ve got a depleted squad and I don’t think 1-0 flattered us too much. They had a lot of possession but didn’t make many clear cut chances.”